I'm writing a book for myself on methods of using a compass. I'm looking for things I may have missed for everyday use. For the last 35 years or so, I never carried one.

How do you actually use a compass when backpacking?

I do not take a compass on backpack trips anymore, except if I am in terrain that is rolly hill or flat. Between the sun, stars and my maps I really do not need a compass in the areas I travel.

But here is one use of a compass. For those of us who are more graphic than number people, you can line a map up visually with a compass. You do have to dial in magnetic declination, but that can be done at home. Set the compass on the map legend and just line up the magnetic north arrow on the map legend with the compass needle. It is very simple. Of course this only works if you have bothered to use a real USGS map or printed a legend that includes the little picture of the true north/magnetic north arrows.

Same here, I carry one but generally only use it to align my map correctly. I used one in the PNW a lot more because the combination of heavy forest, constant cloud cover and the fact they hadn't yet invented GPS meant I actually needed to.

Of course, when your're hiking a simple, distinct trail navigation consists of staying on the trail.

It's been ages since I learned to find my location using map and compass via triangulation. I wonder if I could even do it now?

Cheers,

I use a compass for dead reckoning (distance and azimuth) in flat, forested terrain. I use it for orienting my map so that I can be sure that it is Suggs Peak at which I am looking not a peak 180° the other way (don't ask!). And, I use it for triangulation to find my location on the map. If I am in familiar country such as the Sierra and have a good map then I seldom use a compass other than just to keep the thing from getting rusty. But, working in forestry in the PNW lowlands gave me a good foundation of basic land navigation skills and the skills are still with me. I always have a quality sighting compass with me on my trips. I also know how to use a GPS unit (6 oz) but generally have less use for one of them than I do a compass (0.8 oz); YMMV.

I'm with Rick on this one, with the caveat that I only even do that infrequently.

To be clear, I assume you're talking about "how do I normally use it", and in my case at least, in the context of someone who mostly hikes on established trails.

Versus: "what scenarios exist that might make me glad that I have it, and/or that I learned specific ways of using it". Certainly such scenarios can be imagined, and once in a great while actually occur.

I've helped teach a local navigation class, and I think that whoever designed the class was focused more on folks doing off-trail travel, or that they never really thought it through. Because most of what we spent our time on is stuff that I almost never do in real life. And as a result, IMO they spent too little time on the stuff that actually helps to keep you "found". Pet peeve I guess.

What I use it most for is checking which way north is. But, I rarely do that. I use my map alone for 90% of my navigation. But, every so often I do a triangulation just to see that I am where I think I am. If someone in the group has a gps, then I do the triangulation, and take bets on if I am right or not before looking at the gps.

I use mine when at a trail junction to determine which trail for dead sure - I usually have a good head for knowing what direction I'm going, but I don't feel like wasting time backtracking so will verify, because I've been known to be wrong, particularly in a forested area without major landmarks. Not all junctions have the signs that provide every destination on the sign, and state parks in particular can be bad about that.

i use the compass to get a bearing and the map to determine how I actually want to travel vs. going straight on a bearing.

I use the compass to show others how to use it.

I've used it to verify the gps - nope, don't trust 'em, with good reasons. I'm actually faster with an interpolator and compass than other folks on my team are with their gps units.

We're expected to double check all the time with a compass for SAR. Last training we failed to do this religiously and someone led us a merry roundabout course using - attempting to anyway - their gps.

I like to sit on top of a ridge and identify the nearby peaks with map and compass. It's fun and good practice.

In the normal terrain in which I spend my time, I navigate with a topo map and the visible terrain features. The times (about twice in 30 years) I have hauled out a compass have all been occasions with limited visibility because of fog. I still carry one, preferably one with a mirror. Otherwise, how else would I powder my nose?

On the water, it is definitely a different story......

Thanks for all the inputs. Sounds like most keep it pretty basic.

Lori, I laughed at using the compass to show others how to use a compass.

Anyway, I'm focused on an area there is little interest. Off trail compass only navigation without a map. I only do it in areas I can't possibly get seriously lost. It's more of a hobby.

I've used one for routefinding with a map in a forest where the trail was covered with snow.

A good book to read is the Sierra Club's "Land Navigation Handbook." I have an old copy of it. I covers pretty much everything a basic user would need to know.

I always carry one, but only use it for two things:

1. Like Lori, determining for dead sure which trail to take at a junction, when there are no signs (or it looks like someone might have messed with them, just for fun.) It's also useful if there's a side trail that's used enough to appear to be the "official" trail.

2. I use it on the infrequent occasions that I want to go off-trail. Usually, it's just to go a short distance (less than a mile) to jump from one trail to another; the basic technique is to walk a bearing. Elaboration occurs when in the woods, when you choose a distinctive tree to walk to, then find the next one along the bearing, and repeat until you're where you want to be. Occasionally, you'll have to offset by walking 90 degree offsets and then returning to the original bearing.)

I don't do either of these much, but I always carry the compass anyhow - it's an ounce or two of weight for an item I don't want often, but when I do want one, I want it badly.

I like to navigate about 3/4 of a mile into the desert with a wandering route. Leave an Altoid box with $10 under a bush. Then walk out using a different route. Then the next day I start at the same start and go right to the box. I don't keep track of any landmarks. So far I haven't missed one.

Added: I use a method I developed called Simple Navigation Off Trails (SNOT) for wandering routes and SNOT ROCKET for pretty direct routes.

I've been using my compass a bit more lately.

One of the ways I use it is after getting a heading with my GPS I use the compass to follow it. The compass in my GPS is not a real compass, and it points all over the place when I'm hiking in the forest here. It finally dawned on me that a real compass stays pretty true and isn't burning up any batteries keeping a screen lit.

Using my compass that way helps me get the most out of my GPS batteries by letting them spend their energy recording my track.

I also use my compass a lot when I'm bushwhacking creek beds and hollows. I can generally tell pretty fast where I am in a creek bed or hollow (canyon) by eyeballing a couple bends in it and confirming their distance and direction with a map.

When I finally figured out how to use a lensatic compass I was pretty thrilled. I had one for years and really had no clue and just stumbled upon it while playing with it. You can nail down your position pretty darn good with one of those if your standing where you can see some distant feature in the terrain. If you have a topo map you can often do it with only one reference point and a quick look around. If you can eyeball an angle you can fix your location in an instant sometimes.

I generally check my position while I'm resting for a bit, and when I think I've got it nailed down with my map and compass I also cross check it with my GPS to see if I'm right. Every now and then I'm not. I'm never off by much because I'm just not that far away from knowing where I was, but that really doesn't matter because I can only grade myself with a pass or fail. When I fail I spend some time to figure out where I messed up and that always involves my map and compass again

Around here, 15 or 20 thousand acres is about as much as you can find to wander around in. If you have some experience you aren't going to get lost no matter how you wander. So a part of the fun for me is to just go wander around for a bit and then figure out exactly where I am using a map and compass.

I even bring the compass on our family trips to the state park with the kiddos. Most of the trails are loops and easy to follow. BUT, when we go into a trail I look at the park map and the compass to get an idea of what direction I need to go at any given point on the trail to get a straight line back to the road.

I do this in the event of an emergency that I need to run straight through the woods to get back to the road for help.
It is easy to get turned around on the trails and I sure would not want to have to run back through the whole trail when I could go a straight line.

It sounds stupid, I know, but when I was 16, my dad and I were scouting deer hunting area in Mississippi. We were out in the woods and heard a slight "..hey" My dad said we are in someone's area and we need to go back. I said "no, I think the dude is saying help." I started running, ran about 2 or 3 miles to find a hunter hanging upside down 25 feet up from his climbing deer stand and talking to Jesus. He was so out of it, he couldn't even hear me, even when I talked to him. Covered in piss, no telling how long he hung there. I climbed the tree to the stand, tied him off and had to cut his feet loose letting him swing before figuring how to lower him.

Anyway, you just never know what will happen.

That is a crazy story Tye!

Did he ever tell you what happened to him?

Interesting story. I would comment that in most of the country with which I am familiar, you will make better time to your objective by staying with the trail and not attempting "shortcuts."

Bill, yes. What happened was he was using one of the early climbing stands. To make the bottom move, you need to put your feet into the straps and there is a seat/backrest on the top half. You climb up and down facing the tree using your feet jammed into the straps to control the bottom part. He had put his feet into the straps and then sat in the "seat" to use his feet to lower the bottom; but when he sat, the whole back part broke and he swung backwards and down with his feet still in the straps. With his feet stuck, he was left hanging with his knees bent around the lower base and feet stuck. His hands were bloody from trying to grab the base and pull himself up; but he was not the youngest nor in the best shape and quickly got exhausted.

I went and visited him after the fact. He seriously thought he was talking to Jesus. And was taking 'kinda crazy about him looking up and seeing me standing on his deer stand looking down at him.

Back to the original post; here is another thought. Still thinking of "worse case scenario", if you have a compass along with the map (as some said they just use the map), you could tell how many degrees S or SW of whatever large landmark there is. If on the phone with SAR or park ranger, etc, it would be a lot easier to say, "we are ___ degrees NE of ____ peak or Mt." Then, "we are on the part of the trail where the big turn is."

Tye,

Here is how I would do it.

I'm in the St. Charles USGS map. Let me know when you have it.

I'm on Grid 31, let me know whan you see it.

I'm on the trail on an azimuth of 150 at .5 miles from x8407 (a small peak.)

Azimuth is always a direction from.

Then when the helicopter comes, point your compass at them and read the back of the dial.

I'm directly ahead at a bearing of 240. (This tells them the heading to fly.) When they are pointed right out you, have them turn right a few degrees so the copilot can see you out the left side.

We dealt with this a lot in SAR, before UTM grids were printed on the available maps. We eventually did special edition maps with an arbitrary grid placed on them, so we could say, "I'm in grid A-1, upper left corner." Even so, you often would place yourself by saying, "I am right next to the "a" in canyon, etc. These days you could use UTM coordinates, if both parties understand the system.

Rather than giving bearings to the helicopter, I would recommend using a signal mirror (if not available almost any reflective surface) by day, and ideally a strobe light or fire at night. You don't need to be in contact with the chopper, and it is simple, obvious, direct, and workable over long distances. It has worked like a charm numerous times.

Oldranger,

Using a signal mirror takes some practice. For instance, what do you do when the sun is behind you?

The only bright surface I might have with me is a beer can cut and flattened so I could use the inside.

Then I'd put the reflection on my hand and then rotate it so the reflection was pointed towards the helicopter and take my hand off.

If the inside of your sleeping bag is a light color, you could turn it inside out and wave it.

If there is time while you are waiting, it might help to lay all your gear in a straight line. A smokey fire could help, too. Keep a good fire going and then cover it with leaves when you need the smoke.

Good point about being by a letter.

Using a signal mirror takes about five minutes practice (if that)), particularly when you only need to pinpoint your location. Signalling "behind" you is not all that difficult Just remember that angle of incidence equals angle of reflection in all planes and hold your mirror more in the horizontal. I have also heard of using two mirrors although I have never tried it. And after all, what piece of equipment doesn't require some practice?

In one situation, I signalled the helo, about ten miles distant. The pilot knew our location before he took off, which certainly simplified his job.

As you can tell, I am a fan of the signal mirror (which has often been the mirror on my compass). Of course, it does work better in sunny Arizona than in the PNW.

Come to think about it, in terms of actual compass use, I have used my compass about as often as a signal mirror as I have used the north pointing needle function.....

An Emergency Blanket is a good (and really big) reflector, and I'd imagine one spread out on the ground would be easier to see from an aircraft than most other materials (tent, clothes, et.) if you were unable to actually send a signal for whatever reason.

I generally will use my compass with my GPS. I have various way-points created within around 10 kilometer in different areas. Once I have decided where to go I will use my GPS to tell me how far away my mark is and also what bearing to take to get there. From that point on I will occasionaly re-check my GPS to see how far off I am straying from my target. If its thicker bush that I'm pushing or its tricky to navigate through I will keep my compass in my hands at all times constantly checking to make sure I'm in the right direction. Its just so easy to get turned around...

I live in British Columbia. The country that I hike through can be nice walking one minute and suddenly turn into nothing but piles of deadfall. I wouldn't go into the bush 100 yards if I didn't have my compass on me. My hunting and backpacking is almost all bushwhacking. I park my vehichle at the edge of a cut block and just punch into the bush on a rough bearing. To be honest with you thats almost all I know. I wonder what type of trails other people stick to if they don't need a compass. I've lost count of the times that I have sworn I was heading in the right direction only to have my compass tell me I'm off by 90degrees.

The bush can be a scary place. There is no way I'm going into it if I am not prepared.

My typical turf is somewhat different - the desert southwest and its attending mountains, which can be full of brush and very tall, dense trees at higher elevations. When I am bushwhacking off trail, what counts is the drainage in which you are traveling and how the trend of that drainage is related to your eventual goal. The critical points are the places where you will hop over to another drainage or follow a ridge line. Usually the precise compass direction in which you are going is fairly irrelevant, since you are often searching for a lane that will get you around the thick brush or waterfall, etc. that poses an obstacle. If you are following a trail, you need to check to ascertain if the trail is depicted accurately on the map (many are omitted or are works of fiction); sometimes you are sketching in the trail as you saunter along.

In practice, I am rarely consulting my compass, but I am constantly observing terrain features and confirming my position. I do, however, religiously carry a compass, because when you need it, nothing else will do quite as well, not even a GPS, which these days, is almost always along for the ride as well.

IN the Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher tells of trying to signal his supply plane with a mirror, a large rectangle of red material...and then discovered in the desert of the southwest that a blue tarp was the only thing they saw!

"When I am bushwhacking off trail, what counts is the drainage in which you are traveling and how the trend of that drainage is related to your eventual goal. The critical points are the places where you will hop over to another drainage or follow a ridge line."

Oldranger, it wasn't until this year that I discovered this. Now it seems obvious.

I think in terms of drainage systems. As long as you are in the same system, you can keep one hand on the slope and go around it. But if you have to change hands, you are in a different system. This is a generality as I'm not sure it is perfect.

I don't know if I'm right or wrong on all this. But your post is the first thing I've seen that even hints at it.

The thing is,in the typical basin and range mountain, you know you are somewhere within XYZ Canyon, although you may not know precisely where, but you will be there until you come out, by traveling up or down the canyon or climbing over one of the sides. That is where it gets interesting, due to cliffs, waterfalls, dense brush, and the like.

Looking for overdue hikers,very few were lost, in the sense that they had no idea of where they were. They knew they were in Sabino Canyon (a notorious canyon near Tucson), somewhere in the middle, but they didn't know how to get out....

On trips in Colorado Plateau country, where the whole trip might follow a deeply incised stream for a long ways, we have counted bends and meanders very carefully, so that we can figure out which side canyon to take to continue on our trip. It wasn't a trivial task, especially if the map was off.

While I do carry my compass, I can only recall using it once since I left the military in 2006. I was up at the Mogollon Rim a couple of winters ago to do some camping and small game hunting. I picked a page of my topo map, drove to it, took a random road, parked my truck, threw on the ol pack, and headed off into the sticks.

I went wherever I felt like walking and did not stop to look at the printed 8.5x11" topo map I brought along. As it was getting dark, I climbed a decent peak and broke out the compass. I looked at the surrounding terrain, looked at my map, shot a couple of azimuths, and figured out where I was pretty darn quick. The next day, I climbed a small mountain and called a buddy to let him know where I would be for the next month, and how to find my truck.

Other than something like that, I cannot see really needing my compass. I am beginning to learn the terrain oldranger knows so well.

I should probably add this to when I use it as well. I probably use it more for this than when I am alone. Of course, I am with scouts a lot.

FinallyME,

I thought of an exercise that can be done easily with scouts. Lay out a zigzag course with chalklines. Have each point be 1 to 3 feet apart. Label the distances to make it easy on them.

Have them lay their compass on the line to get the bearings. Record the bearing and distances.

Then draw a scale map where 1 cm = 1 foot. On the other side, scale up. Go to a field and set up the same course with 10 feet equaling 1 foot.

This might help for those interested in the Orienteering Merit badge.